Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Friday - November 04, 2011

From: Miami, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Plant Identification, Vines
Title: Vine with red berries in North Carolina
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I found a plant/ vine pink teardrop with red berries in the Pusgah Forest in North Carolina and no on knows the name of it. I have a photo, can you help?

ANSWER:

A little more information about the plant would be helpful, e.g., size, leaf-type, does pink teardrop describe the flower? You can see information about native vines in North Carolina by doing a COMBINATION SEARCH in our Native Plant Database, choosing North Carolina under Select State or Province and "Vine" under Habit (general appearance). There are more than 70 vines native to North Carolina on our database. Of those, here are ones that have red berries:

Celastrus scandens (American bittersweet). Here are more photos and information.

Cocculus carolinus (Carolina snailseed)

Gelsemium sempervirens (Carolina jessamine)

Smilax smallii (Lanceleaf greenbrier) and here are more photos and information.

And, here are a few vines with pinkish flowers that are somewhat teardrop shaped:

Polygonum arifolium (Halberdleaf tearthumb) and here are photos and more information.

Polygonum cilinode (Fringed black bindweed) and here are photos and more information.

Polygonum sagittatum (Arrowleaf tearthumb) and here are photos and more information.

Polygonum scandens (Climbing false buckwheat) and here are photos and more information.

Of course, your plant may not be a vine, in which case you could do a similar COMBINATION SEARCH and choosing "Shrub" or "Subshrub" under Habit (general appearance). It is also possible that your plant is not a native plant, in which case it wouldn't be in our Native Plant Database and we are not likely to know what it is.

If you didn't find your plant in any of the above, please visit our Plant Identification page where you will find links to several plant identification forums that accept photos for identification.

From the Image Gallery

American bittersweet
Celastrus scandens

Carolina snailseed
Cocculus carolinus

Carolina jessamine
Gelsemium sempervirens

Lance-leaf greenbriar
Smilax smallii

Climbing false buckwheat
Polygonum scandens